Vending-machine.



G. H. MARCOPOULOS.

VENDlNG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. H1915. 1,22,799.

Patented June 5, 1917.

U mill J ZT7 Z7 J4. e5? 72/127755 5E5 7 ZYZJEZZZUF 00.. PNDYWLITNQ, WASHINGTON D. Q

GEORGE H. MARCOPOULOS, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

VENDINQ-IVIACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. June 5, 1917.

Application filed February 1, 1915. Serial No. 5,352.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonen I-I. MARCOPOU- Los, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Guyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Vending-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to vending machines that are of a size and style especially suitable for use on railway cars, and other public conveyances, or in theaters, music halls and like places of entertainment, and that are adapted for-attachment to the backs of seats or to the walls of cars, in the usually narrow spaces between the windows.

The object of the invention is to provide a vending machine of the above nature that is extremely simple of construction and correspondingly cheap of production; that may be very conveniently operated; that may be opened, by an authorized person, to allow him to gain access to the goods container or magazine, and to the coin receiving compartment; that is provided with a removable goods container whereby an empty container may be removed and .a full one substituted therefor in a Very brief interval of time; wherein the ejecting mechanism is practically indestructible from any reasonable amount of usage; and wherein a coin constitutes a part of the ejecting mechanism, the same being moved into contact with the article to be ejected, and acting to shove the same from the machine.

The above objects are attained in a machine constructed in accordance'with the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective of the vending machine of my invention; Fig, 2 is. a central vertical section through the machine; while Figs. 3 and 1 are horizontal sections on the correspondingly numbered section lines of Fig. 2.

The casing of the machine, which comprises a' bottom wall 1, side walls Q'rear wall 3, and top wall 4:, is open at the front from top to bottom, and the open side of the casing is adapted to be closed by a door 5, that is provided with a perlpheral flange 6 wh1ch overlies the front edges of the side, top, and bottom walls; and the left hand side of the door is hinged to the corresponding side wall of the casing, as shown at 7. A suitable lock (not shown) is used for retaining the door closed, and the same may be located within the casing to cooperate with the right hand edge of the door. It will be noted that the lower portion of the casing is somewhat wider from front to rear than the upperportion thereof, and that the door 5 is shaped to correspond thereto. The portion of the door that covers the goods container or magazine is provided with an observation slot 8, that may be closed by a pane of glass 9, and below this slot there is a transverse opening 10 through which the goods may be ejected. A coin slot 12 is located adjacent the right hand edge of the door, and the lower, oifset portion of the door is provided with an opening 13 through which the operating handle of the ejecting mechanism extends. The horizontal ledge 14: that is formed between the upper and lower portions of the door, provides a shelf onto which the goods are delivered by the ejecting mechanism.

Extending inward from the side walls,

and from the front of the casing and between the narrower and wider portions of the casing, is a ledge 15, and spaced below said ledge is a horizontal partition 16, that has an opening 17. The forward edges of the ledge 15 and the partition 16 are connected by a plate 18. Supported by and be tween the rear wall 3 and the plate 18, parallel to and adjacent each of the side walls 2, is a rod 19. A coin mover 20, having a coin receiving slot 21, has each of its ends guided upon one of the aforesaid rods, and a spring :22, supportedupon each of the rods 19, and confined between the plate 18 and the front surface of the coin mover 20, acts to normally retain the mover in the rear of the casing, and in a position to receive a coin from a chute 23, that is located in the right hand side of the casing'an'd the forward end of which registers with the coin receiving opening 12 of the door. A stem 24 that is attached to the coin mover, projects forwardly therefrom and through a guiding aperture in the plate 18, that registers with the opening 13 in the door. Where the forward end of the stem 24: projects beyond the door, it is provided with aring 25 that may be grasped by the operator when he wishes, to actuate the ejecting mechanism.

The goods container or magazine consists of a holder comprising a rear wall 26 and 'side walls 27, the forward edges ofthe latter being turned inward to form flanges 28.

The aforesaid walls and the flanges28 combine to form a guide for the rectan ular; packages 29 within which the goods are con-- "tained. A drop or shield 30 is hinged to the door in a position tohang across the opening 10, to protect the packages29. A

fia'nge 31 extends along each side and across "the front of the bottom'of the goods container andvforms a support for the lowest package; and the goods container is supported, in turn, upon the flange 15. Ribs and is guided, by the chute 23, to the'slot 21 of the coin mover. The lower edge of the coin rests upon the partition 16, while the upper edgereposes within the plane of the lowest package 29. The operator then pulls forward on the ring 25, and through the intervention of the stem 24, draws the coin mover forward against the tension of the springs22. The upper portion ofthe coin will engage the rear side of the lowest package and push the same outward through the opening 10, onto the ledge 14:, the drop 30 swinging upward to permit of such operation. When the package has been ejected sufficiently to be grasped by the operator,

' the lower edge of the coin has come into i that accessto both the goods and money comregister with the opening 17 thepartition 16, and drops therethrough onto the bottom 1 of the-casing. Thereaften the coin mover may be allowed to return to normal position under the influence of a spring 22.

' When it is desired to remove the money from the machine, and to replenish the machine with goods, the door may be'unlocked and swung open, and the money removed, and a fresh supply of goods either placed into the present goods container, or the empty goods container may be removed, and a full one substituted therefor." The fact partments is gainedthro'ugh' the one door,

"provides a very quick and" convenient method of emptying the machine of money and filling it with a fresh supply of goods.

The rear wall 3, is perforated at 34, near its top and bottom, to accommodate means whereby the machine may be secured to a supporting structure; and in the case of such means as screws being employed for this purpose, the heads may repose within the casing where they cannot'be tampered with whenthe door is closed.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. .A vending machine comprising a verticallydisposed open front casing, a horizontal ledge extending along each side and across the front of the casing nearthe bottom thereof, a-"coin mover reciprocable beneath the ledge and havinga through slot for the reception of a coin,la shelf extending from the back offthe casing forward less than the depth of the casing beneaththe coin mover and in aposition to support a coin in the slot of the coin mover with the upper edge of the coin abov'ethe aforesaid ledge,

guides for the coin mover extendingfrom front to back of the casing, springs supported by the guides andin'terposed between the coin mover and a portion of the casing, an operating member extending forwardly from and connected to thecoin mover, there being a coin receiving space provided between the bottom of the casing and the aforesaid shelf, a coin chute extendingdownward and to the rearalong the inside of one side wall of the casing the same being turned at its rear end to deliver a coin, transversely disposed, -to the coin mover when the latter is in normal position, the chute J being only slightly wider than the tlfiCkIleSS 7 of the coin, a goods container'supp'orted' by the aforesaid ledge and extending upward therefrom to the top of the'casing andlaterally from the aforesaid coin chute entirely to the opposite side of the casing, and a door for closing the entire front side of the casing, said door having a coin receiving slot that registers with the coin chute, an opening through whigh the goods maybe ejected, and an opening 7 through which the operating member of the coin mover projects.

I 2. A vending machine comprising a vertically disposed open front casing, a horizontal ledge near the bottom thereof, a coin mover reciprocable beneath the ledge and having a through slot for the reception of a coin, a shelf beneath the coin mover and in a position to supporta coin in theslot of the coin mover with the upper edge of the coin above the aforesaid ledge, an operating member extending forwardly from "and connected to the coin mover, there being a coin receiving space provided between the bottom of the casing and the aforesaid'shelf, a coin:

chute extending downward and to the rear along the inside of oneside wall of the casing and being turned at its rear end to deliver a coin, transversely disposed, to the coin mover when the latter is in normal position, the chute being only slightly wider than the thickness of the coin, a'goodscon tainer supported by the aforesaid ledge and through which the operating member of the 10 extending upward therefrom to the top of coin mover projects. the casing and laterally from the aforesaid In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my coin chute entirely to the opposite side of signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

the casing, and a door for closing the entire front side of the casing, said door having a GEORGE MARCOPOULOS' coin receiving slot that registers with the Witnesses:

coin chute, an opening through Which the BRENNAN B. WEST,

goods may be ejected; 'and an opening HUGH B. MOGILL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

